Technical Field
The present invention relates to a portable terminal that performs a cooperative operation with an image forming apparatus and a technique relevant to the same.
Background Art
There is a technique which ensures cooperation between an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi-Functional Peripheral) and a portable terminal existing outside the same (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2012-138970 (Patent Document 1)).
For communication between an image forming apparatus and a portable terminal, various wireless communication technologies can be used. For example, a communication with wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11 or the like) and/or a short-range wireless communication can be used. As the short-range wireless communications, there are a communication in accordance with the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard and/or an NFC (Near Field Communication). Further, in recent years, there is a communication in accordance with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) which is an extended standard of the Bluetooth.
By using such wireless communications for the communication between the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal, various applied technologies are created.
It is thought, for example, that when an image forming apparatus sends a radio wave therearound by using the BLE or the like and a portable terminal coming near the image forming apparatus receives the radio wave from the BLE, the portable terminal detects the proximity of itself to the image forming apparatus.
Further, the portable terminal can automatically start various operations in response to the detection of the proximity to the image forming apparatus.
When the BLE or the like is used, however, since there is a variation in the intensity of the radio wave from the image forming apparatus, it is required that the image forming apparatus should send therearound a radio wave of high intensity to some degree. As a result, there is sometimes a case where even when a user carrying the portable terminal only passes by the image forming apparatus, it is determined that the intensity of the radio wave from the image forming apparatus exceeds a certain level (plainly speaking, the portable terminal experiences an oversensitive reaction). Therefore, in such a case where the portable terminal automatically starts various operations in response to the detection of the proximity to the image forming apparatus, the operations are sometimes performed without the user's intent.
As a countermeasure therefor, the inventor of the present invention further devises a technique to display various messages (a message for confirming the use of the image forming apparatus, and the like) on a display part of the portable terminal when the user comes close to the image forming apparatus and the portable terminal carried by the user accordingly comes close to the image forming apparatus. By this technique, since various operations are started on the basis of the instruction of the user who checks the message, not automatically, it becomes possible to make the operations proceed on the basis of more reliable confirmation of the user's intent.
In such a technique, however, even if the user has no intent to use the image forming apparatus, when the user passes by the image forming apparatus while carrying the portable terminal, it is determined that the intensity of the BLE radio wave from the image forming apparatus exceeds a certain level and the message is displayed on the portable terminal not on the basis of the user's intent.
Then, if the message remains being displayed on the display part of the portable terminal even when the user has been already away from the image forming apparatus, the user may sometimes notice a useless (unavailable) message (the message for confirming the use of the image forming apparatus, or the like) for himself at that time at a place away from the image forming apparatus. While watching the message, the user, however, cannot understand why the message is displayed and feels confused about it.